Page 34 of One Lovely Lie

He squirms in my arms. “No, I meant our…arrangement.”

“What? Why?” I ask, hastily letting him go as a look of what I’m sure is horror falls over my face. “I think it’s going great. You’re learning so much.”

“Gee, thanks,” he says with a roll of his eyes. “I know I am, but I don’t want to ruin us. What’s going to stop us from getting into more fights? I don’t think I could take that.”

“Hey, no. That won’t happen.” I cup his cheeks as I shake my head. I don’t want him thinking like that. “Nothing will ever come in the way of us.”

His jaw clenches. “Magnus.”

“Daniel,” I mimic.

“Why are we really doing this?” He questions. “You said you wanted to be my sex tutor, but even you have to admit that’s ridiculous. So, why?”

I shrug. “So I could teach you about all things sex. That way, when we go off to college, you’re not taken advantage of.”

“But we’re going to college together,” he says, cocking his head to the side in confusion. “Is this just going to end when we get there?”

I don’t dare tell him that we may not end up at the same college. No way in hell am I bringing that up right now.

So, I do what I do best.

Ignore.

“Well, duh. We can’t do this forever,” I joke, ruffling his hair. “We’ll go down the list and then we can have you graduate on to others.”

He crosses his arms over his chest. “And you’re really okay with that?”

“Are you not?” I ask, and now I’m the one confused. Why wouldn’t I be okay with that? Isn’t that the whole point of this? I get to mess around with my best friend, he learns, and we part sexual ways, and live our best lives.

“I am,” he says, but it’s lacking conviction. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” I say, stroking the side of his neck as I tip his chin up to face me. “If you really want to stop this, we will. I promise. You just need to say the word.”

For a brief moment, it looks like he’s considering it, and my throat goes dry. Then that consideration fades and he smiles, pulling me closer to him by the ties of my hoodie. “Kiss me?”

“Anytime,” I tell him and dive down to capture those lips I’ve grown so familiar with.

My lips moving against his feels just like night. Everything I hate just fades into the background, even Germany and the expiration date I’m not too eager to reach.

Chapter 10

Daniel

The blue and red lights are flashing against every corner of the room. The music is blaring so loudly that I can hear every beat of the bass through my earplugs. There’s a thick plume of smoke in the air as Jengi plays in the background. Hundreds of sweaty bodies are pressed together, dancing to the rhythm of the music, getting lost in the sensations.

God. Life is great.

Well, the two pills of Molly I took are probably helping with that.

Everyone is here together, finally. Ozymandias and Carter are dancing, a pretty brunette girl stuffed between them as they all grind against each other. Avery invited Sebastian who surprised us all by agreeing to come. I’m not too sure what happened there between the two of them, but Sebastian seems to just be watching Avery dance. Weird.

But I’m rolling, so I can’t really focus on any of that shit anyway.

All I can really focus on is a shirtless Magnus in front of me. We came fully dressed but managed to ditch our tops two seconds into the club. The neon-green hues that are coming from the stage illuminate all his chiseled glory, and I want to lick the sweat that’s dripping down his happy trail.

If I could get down on my knees and suck his dick right now, I would. Don’t try me.

“I know that look on your face!” he teases, yelling in my ear as he pulls us deeper into the crowd and away from our friends. “Having fun?”

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